{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Straits Signal","title":"The Fear Premium:The Hidden Friction Behind Singapore’s Commercial EV Transition","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/1f4b481d\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3422,"description":"STRAITS SIGNAL | EP 01 The Fear Premium:The hidden friction behind Singapore’s commercial EV transitionMost people know Hong Seh for Ferrari. For Maserati. For the kind of cars that made Singaporeans crane their necks on the PIE.That chapter's closed. And what Edward Tan — third-generation, true-blue Singaporean — is building in its place is arguably more interesting. Less glamorous, maybe. But the kind of bet that only makes sense if you're willing to read ten years ahead and act now.Electric lorries. Commercial EVs. The unglamorous backbone of how this city actually moves.In Singapore's first episode of Straits Signal, I sat down with Edward inside an actual electric lorry — yes, we recorded in one — to unpack the full circuit of this pivot. From a family that started in fish tackle and hardware in 1936, evolved through chemicals, landed on luxury cars, and is now going all-in on clean commercial fleets.Here's what we got into:The evolution nobody saw coming — how a petrolhead family traded horsepower for kilowatts, and why Edward calls it evolution, not disruptionThe 119 problem — Singapore just registered 119 commercial EVs in two months. Edward breaks down why that number is actually more signal than it looks — and what the 40,000 government incentive flipping on January 1st really means for the Y and X plate segmentsWhy Chinese EVs deserve a second look — beyond the skepticism, Edward makes the case for why China's volume, data, and consolidation puts them ahead on commercial EVs in ways the Western market simply hasn't caught up to yetThe system integrator play — selling a lorry is the easy part. Edward's real bet is on solving everything around it — fleet management software, refrigeration systems, battery monitoring, bodybuilders, after-sales. End to end, or bust.And the line that stuck — humans are our own worst enemy. Very kiasi, very kiasu — scared to die, scared to lose, but somehow also scared to move. Because the technology is here. The economics...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/Jvuyoa6-0IXq4v0siuD9GonJpl1IgTQmKSKpdKs6wWg/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS84NTgz/YmJmOTVhYjFhMzJm/NzljYTgyNDVjMzdh/MjQ2ZS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}